So, I emailed admissions departments at a bunch of top tier schools. I'm basically trying to work my way down the list to get a bunch of information for my students. Today, I got my first packets, from Yale and Stanford. Yale even included a poster, which I promptly displayed in my classroom. Although I wouldn't always call my students the most observant bunch, they picked up on the poster right away.
Mr. G, you went to Yale?
No.
Then what you got that poster for? Who went to Yale.
One of you is going to Yale.
I ain't goin' to no Yale.
Sure you are. Or Harvard then.
Yale, where that be?
Connecticut.
Oh no, I ain't going to no Conneccticut.
But after school, I stopped one of my favorite students. I told her that I had gotten the poster for her. She said her mom wouldn't let her go that far away, but I tried to convince her. She took home the viewbook. And she is just a sophomore.
To any fellow MTC-ers reading this, or any other delta teachers, have you ever had a student go to a really top-tier school? Or ever heard of a student from the delta going to a top tier school?
One of the things our principal said he wanted was for some of our kids to be going to Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. While these schools aren't for everyone, and while they may be elitist, perhaps even extremely so, I feel like the academicaly elite of my school deserve the chance to match minds with the academically elite of the rest of the country. But even my brightest kids, even if they made it into that sort of institution, I wonder if they would be too far behind. I just think of my freshman year classes at Williams and then think about what my kids leave my school knowing. That's a big part of what makes me push them. I can't stand when they complain about having too much work, or when they're lazy - they have so much catching up to do. Maybe I should start some sort of after-school club, the elite college club, and just take the best students I can find, do community service and ACT prep, alternating one every other weekend. Obviously find a non-MTC teacher to help out with it. So many ideas - so little time.
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3 comments:
Just yesterday I spent the day on what ACT scores it takes to go to different schools, where the schools are located on a map, and what the differences are between two year and four year schools... My kids were CLUELESS before we had this conversation!!!
Why liberal arts top tier schools? Why not college point blank? I can't imagine the percentage of your kids that go on to any kind of higher ed is that high?
any college at all would be good. something other than valley would be great. i just want my kids to dream big. i have some kids who would certainly be considering the best schools in the country if they had gone to my high school.
I do think it's important to encourage them to go to college, but some of them need the bar to be set higher. I can't spend all my time worrying about my failing students while letting down those who are downright brilliant. They deserve the challange.
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